TAKEAWAYS

Writing is a sedentary, solitary pursuit for the most part. How do you take care of your physical and mental health while you're at it?

by Dietrich

Writing may be a solitary pursuit, but once the characters come to life, the party starts.

That moment when the players stop feeling like outlines on the page and start their antics, making unexpected choices, and pulling the story in directions I never planned — that’s when I know I’ve arrived at something I won’t toss out the next morning. My quiet desk becomes the stage, and in an odd way I’m not alone anymore. There’s a gathering of voices.

To answer the question: as the months of writing tick by, I need to take care of body and mind to keep the whole thing going.

Hours disappear while I sit staring at the screen, living inside some character’s head. When I’m writing for long stretches, shoulders tighten, eyes strain, and the blood slows. Mentally, the solitude that once felt productive can tip into isolation. Sometimes I push on because the story feels like it’s getting richer, even though the writer seems to shrink.

So I have to remember that some degree of care is essential. I stand and stretch, walk around the room, sometimes dictating a scene out loud as I move. Speaking the dialogue while pacing helps me hear the rhythm and keeps the blood flowing at the same time. I keep a kettlebell and a dumbbell within reach so movement feels like part of the process instead of an interruption. A few reps between chapters work wonders to clear the mental fog. The body will keep the score if I ignore it; the mind also works better when the body isn’t neglected.

I protect the solitude when the story needs deep immersion—those long stretches when the only conversation that matters is the one happening on the page. But to keep the whole thing in check, I need real conversation and outdoor resets to ward off isolation. A walk outside, even twenty minutes, usually clears my head. Talking to an actual person—about anything, the weather, the news, the ridiculous plot twist I just invented—keeps me connected to the real world. 

Sleep is non-negotiable. Hydration is non-negotiable. Stepping away when the words get stuck is non-negotiable. Pushing through fatigue doesn’t produce better pages; it produces more pages that will need rewriting the next day.

I’ve noticed that when I neglect these things, the whole party suffers. The characters become flat. The energy dips. The joy that comes from watching a story come alive gets replaced by resentment and staring at a blank screen. On the days when I’m rested and energized, the opposite happens. The characters become vivid. The work feels lighter. The solitude becomes chosen rather than imposed.

In the end, the characters may throw the party, but I need to show up fully charged and in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. Taking care of the physical and mental self isn’t a distraction from the writing. It’s what makes the writing sustainable, and what keeps me ready when the characters show up.